📚 A Bookish Chat with 'Riftsiders: Unlawful Possession' Author Paul A. Destefano | Author Interview | @TDIPaulD #AuthorInterview #BlogTour #Interview
Paul A. DeStefano and his wife live on Long Island, NY, with a strange menagerie that includes a dog, a few cats, sugar gliders, a bearded dragon, and several grown children that have not left.
After graduating from Hofstra University with a split degree in English and Acting, he worked in the board gaming and roleplaying industry for decades, including officially licensed projects for Star Trek and Lord of the Rings. He did not win the Origins Award for Best Miniatures Rules in 2004 and has forgotten that bitter defeat. When not playing and working on games, he is sometimes found touring internationally, giving lectures on worldbuilding and character design.
Being a professional full-time blacksmith for several years made him realize how much less painful it was to go back to writing. He’s been lucky enough to hold the Top Humor Writer badge at Medium multiple times and has had his work narrated by James Cosmo (Lord Mormont from Game of Thrones) on multimillion-dollar Kickstarter projects.
It is also worth noting that having never taken any bassoon lessons, he still cannot play one.
His latest book is the urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel, RIFTSIDERS: UNLAWFUL POSSESSION.
Visit his website at www.PaulADeStefano.com or connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Instagram.
TWL: Welcome to The Writer's Life! How did you come up with the idea to write your book?
Paul A. Destefano: I met my wife in high school drama club. We were talking about how other couples met. It just struck me as weirdly funny if a couple met at a support meeting for possessed people. That became Unlawful Possession. When the publisher asked for a series, the Riftsiders part was added.
TWL: Can you give us a short excerpt?
Paul A. Destefano: Enrique approached the church feeling more like a lost
tourist from the Dominican Republic than someone on a national watchlist.
Peering up at the untended vines coating the wall, he ran a hand through his short
black hair. He glanced back at the street and then followed Ebbs down the
stairs to the basement side entrance.
“I don’t even think he’s a real priest,” came
the familiar British tones in the back of Enrique’s mind. “He’s not wearing a
collar. This is bollocks. He can’t teach you anything about controlling me you
don’t already know, and I’m certainly not going to listen to some pudgy little
unshaven monk or whatever he is. Don’t go in.”
Enrique stopped halfway down the cracked steps
and bent, turning his back to Ebbs to tie a shoe that wasn’t untied. Ebbs
waited by the door, gently humming to himself.
“Shut up, Taz,” Enrique said, barely above a
whisper. “If you would behave in the first place, we wouldn’t have to be here.”
“Still bollocks,” Taz said.
Enrique stood and wiped his hands on his jeans before descending. At the base of the stairway, he stomped his work boot into the puddle that reflected a third figure only he could see pacing behind them.
TWL: What part of the book was the most fun to write?
Paul A. Destefano: Anything snarky or inappropriate Taz the demon says. Which is a huge chunk of what he says - he’s a demon, after all.
TWL: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?
Paul A. Destefano: It’s got sex scenes with… not quite human participants.
TWL: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?
Paul A. Destefano: Riftsiders: Identity Theft is at the publisher for edits right now (April 2022). So, soon, maybe?
TWL: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?
Paul A. Destefano: Being different is not always bad.
TWL: Do you have any final words?
Paul A. Destefano: It’s full of monsters and weird stuff, but there’s some serious underlying real-world themes to explore.
Title: RIFTSIDERS: UNLAWFUL POSSESSION
Author: Paul A. Destefano
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
BOOK BLURB:
Enrique Marin wants a quiet life after the death of his wife. Just one problem stands in the way–he’s possessed by the misanthropic English demon, Tzazin. A violent night under demonic influence accidentally leads Enrique to love, and it’s anything but quiet. Shy, autistic yoga instructor Elle thought allowing herself to be possessed by the very-not-shy sex demon Key would help her find love. She finds Enrique, but she didn’t count on coping with the anti-demon bigotry of society. Fate–and AA meetings for the possessed–brings them together, but hostile forces, demonic and human, fight to keep them apart. It might cost them everything to keep their love alive.
Book Information
Release Date: April 18, 2022
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1509241231; 292 pages; $16.99; E-Book, $4.99
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HZpkPE
The Writer’s Life
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